Coming to America
Seth Shi, a University of Indianapolis senior in finance, piano minor and exchange student from Ningbo Institute of Technology (NIT), sits in front of the piano ready to play his musical piece in front of a crowd at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center. Yet across campus, Qing Feng Shi, a junior in international business, sits in class and listens to his finance professor teach a lecture.
University of Indianapolis has partnerships with different campuses around the world, and NIT is just one of many. Students from partner-campuses can choose to complete their programs either at their home campus or the UIndy campus. For Seth, the whole experience of leaving home and studying in another country can be challenging.
“I had to put a lot of work in to overcome the languages, and the cultural differences when I first got to the U.S.,” Seth said.
Seth expressed a couple of major adjustments he had to make to fit in. He said the biggest obstacle he had to overcome was understanding what the American students were saying to him.
“On any given day, I would stand in the middle of campus hearing people talk around me in English, but I couldn’t understand the majority of what they were saying until my second or third month here,” Seth said.
Language is often the hardest and most apparent problem any international student faces. There are different ways to overcome the barriers. Methods of assimilating an international student into American culture can range from watching TV to making English-speaking friends.
Seth shared some of his own efforts to overcome the language barrier upon arriving to the U.S.
“I lived in Warren Hall my first year, and I tried to force myself to listen to people’s conversations, hung out with my floor mates and participated in any activity that allowed me to practice my English conversation skills. When I’m in doubt, I ask questions–lots of them,” Seth said.
This year marks Seth’s second year studying at UIndy. His time is split among classes, piano rehearsals and preparing for the GMAT exam, which is the graduate school entrance exam for the MBA program. NIT students sometimes experience cultural barriers with some facets of American life. These cultural barriers can vary from the way professors teach classes to the American way of life.
“In the U.S., students are trained to think more, and students back home [China] don’t really have an opportunity to do that. The teachers focus more on your grades and test results and not really your process of how hard you work for it,” Qing Feng said.
Qing Feng described what a classroom setting is like for him at UIndy.
“My English composition teacher wanted me to write an essay, and after class I thought, ‘I must get a good grade on the essay,’ but I later found out that my professor actually wanted me to pay more attention on the writing style and enjoy the writing process of an essay, ” Qing Feng said.
Photo contributed by Qing Feng Shi
Apart from academics, NIT students also express a significant difference in the everyday lifestyle with American students. Seth thought that the attitude towards work varies greatly among American students.
“One thing that I’ve learned a lot from the American students was that they learn the fundamentals to problem-solving and don’t really over emphasize on the value and the results. I think that’s what the Chinese students have a disadvantage over the American students here,” Seth said.
Both students thought that coming to UIndy and completing the last two years of their college education will benefit them and their careers later on.
“Since my major is international business, being here opens doors for me, whether I choose to go back to China after I graduate, or stay in the U.S. to find a job. You’ll never know when you’ll be doing business with someone that you know. Of course, being fluent in English is a must in today’s society,” Qing Feng said.
Many people often ask international students studying overseas why they choose to leave home and be away from family and friends to study abroad.
“Coming to UIndy has broadened my horizons and made me see the other side of the world. I would not change it for anything. I am happy to be a student of NIT and of course the University of Indianapolis,” Qing Feng said.
